Your Beats In April
by EmperorOfKirbia
Summary: Kousei thought he had moved past Kaori, but a composer from an animation studio approached him with a piece to play. Who knew a melody and a memory could be so powerful?
1. Chapter 1

Your Beats In April

At age 24, Arima Kousei still hadn't learned to smile like he did during that spring of his fourteenth year. But he had learned to smile. He had learned to play the piano with the same amount of passion that Kaori put into her violin. Judges at competitions swooned over his playing, saying things like "The prodigy is back!"

He made his way through a successful life up to that point, attending a prestigious music school in college, and graduating early. An orchestra hired him, and he played for a few years, until a small animation studio approached him. He picked up the phone that rang just within arm's reach of his personal piano, next to a picture of Kaori.

"This is Arima Kousei."

"Hello. My name is Jun Maeda, and I'm the composer for Key entertainment. I've listened to some of your stuff, and it's magnificent!"

"Thanks..."

"I want you to play a certain piece I have for a show. Think you could do that?"

"Alright... but you should probably talk to my agent."

"Good point... but I kind of wanted to make sure you were on board first. I'd hate to have your agent force you into something that you wouldn't want to do because he made a deal."

"I don't think that's how it works..."

"I'll see you later!" And Jun Maeda hung up. Kousei sighed. He just agreed to his first performance without a live audience since... well it's definitely been a while.

He walked into the recording studio to see a young man with long bangs in his early thirties smiling. He walked forward and offered Kousei a hand to shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thanks?"

"I'm Jun. We spoke on the phone?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Anyways, I show you to the recording room. I assume you read over the music?"

"I read it." He hadn't practiced it though.

"Great!" Jun lead him down a few hallways and into a small, padded room with a few others inside. A drummer, guitarist, a vocalist, and a violinist. Of course there was a violinist.

"You didn't tell me I would be playing with other people." Kousei protested.

"I didn't? Sorry about that."

"It's fine, I'm just... surprised I guess." Kousei took a seat behind the piano, and put on a pair of headphones so he could hear the recording better. Jun ran behind a glass wall and adjusted some switches.

He leaned over a microphone and said, "We're on in three... two... one..."

Right on cue, Kousei began the piece. It was just him, and no one else. And then the drummer kicked in, and the guitarist and the violinist. But Kousei couldn't concentrate on his own playing. The vocals crowded his mind, and the sheer sound of a violin sent images of Kaori running through his head. A minute in he lost tempo and the piece fell apart.

"Sorry guys, can we try it again?" Kousei asked.

"Sure. Go right ahead." Jun replied.

The music started again, and Kousei played the same beginning as impeccably as the first time. But the vocals and the violin kept him thinking of Kaori. They made it to the chorus this time, and but not much further. Because Kousei heard those lyrics loud and clear.

 _I felt like I just heard it loud_

 _Because I know I sensed it in my bones_

 _In this moment, I can feel my heart tremble_

 _And then I felt it come again_

 _Some million stars vanish into the dark_

 _And I saw them off_

 _I waved them goodbye_

 _With a tear in my eye_

 _So happy for them_

A clip of Kaori played in his head, dancing to that wonderful tune, until the last line, when she collapsed like the one time they played together. Kousei thought he was over this. But he could hear Kaori still nagging over his shoulder to play on. And that's what stopped him.

"Kousei? You ok?"

"What?" He hadn't realized that he was crying.

"I mean, I know its a good song and all, but you don't seem like the kind for tears." Jun replied.

"Just... just give me a bit. I'll be right back." Kousei took off his headphones and left the padded room. He nearly sprinted down the hallways, the tears still streaming down his cheeks. He missed Kaori damn it. He missed her.

Kousei got in his car and drove straight to his apartment complex, where he ran up the stairs and slammed into his door. He took out the keys, and unlocked it before trying again. He had to find it. Just one thing. Then it'll be over.

The picture of Kaori sat right where he had left it for the past three years, sitting just within arms reach of his personal piano. Kousei grabbed it and turned around. He was back at the studio five minutes later.

"I'm back." He told Jun as he walked into the padded room.

"You good now?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Kousei put the headphones on again, and set the picture of Kaori on the piano.

"Ok, one more time guys."

Kousei made it through the entire song this time. When they finished, Jun just gawked in awe.

"Was that what you wanted?" Kousei asked. Jun fumbled with his words for a little bit.

"Y-y-yeah. Perfect."

"Just out of curiosity, what is this for?"

"What?"

"You said that this was for a TV show? What show?"

"Didn't I tell you?"

"It must've been when you told me that I would be playing with other people." Kousei replied with a smirk on his face.

"Right... It's called Angel Beats."

Somewhere, in another world full of souls who died with regrets, a girl with blond hair played her violin on top of the school roof. It was a magnificent performance, but she stopped in the middle. The girl could swear that she could hear a piano. It was a familiar piano too.

"Kaori? You done practicing? We need the entire Diversion Division ready in fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, almost. Just give me a second Yurippe."

"Fine."

The girl turned back to the vista of the sun setting behind the mountains. It's always beautiful at this time of day in the afterlife. She heard the piano again. And she remembered it. It was Kousei's piano.

 _So happy for them..._


	2. Chapter 2

Kaori walked down the high school stairs and joined the rest of the band. No one asked her why she skipped into the room, but if they did she wouldn't tell them that she heard Kousei again. It would take too long to explain Kousei. He his a complicated person after all, with hopes and dreams and aspirations that took Kaori multiple seasons to understand. She couldn't do Kousei justice with a few minutes. Even a few hours.

"Alright guys, it's almost show time." Iwasawa said. Everyone else nodded. One thing that people don't appreciate about the Diversion Division is the set up for each concert. It's not easy to move three guitars, a violin, a drum set, and four amps into the cafeteria undetected. But they've been doing this so long that it's not a big deal.

The abandoned school building where the Diversion Division practiced cast a long shadow on the path to the cafeteria. Hisako looked checked the area. She nodded back to the rest of the group. Kaori took a deep breath. This was the first sprint.

"Go."

And the band took off. They moved quickly under the veil of shadow. Each step barely made a sound, even though they carried over fifty pounds more than usual. Kaori took short, sharp breaths as she rushed to the cafeteria building. Iwasawa opened the door and everyone hurried in. The click of the door shutting signaled for everyone to catch their breaths.

"Kaori?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to play your song first?"

Kaori gave her a confused look. And then realized what she was talking about. Kaori had written a song for Girls Dead Monster to play, and Iwasawa approved it two days ago. She had never composed before, but for some reason the melody came naturally.

"First."

"Ok, then." Iwasawa turned to the rest of the band, "We're on in five."

The band waited behind the cafeteria stairs for five minutes. A few students shrieked when the lights went out. Kaori pushed an amp out from behind the stairs and placed a symbol on the stage. The rest of the band set up as she hopped up and readied her violin

The lights turned back on. They were blinding at first, but the white receded to a view of a hundred of students cheering. Girls Dead Monster needed no introduction, so they started to play immediately. However, their opening song sounded different from their usual rock and roll style. It had a much more light hearted feel, dominated by Kaori's violin.

The audience clapped along to the beat. Iwasawa sung the verse, and Kaori joined when they got to the chorus

 _Oh it was you. It always was you._

 _The one who made me realize_

 _If we can make the darkness shine_

 _Stars will light up the sky_

 _Don't hide your feeling behind your smile_

 _Because these stars will shine upon you_

It was a hit. The students loved it. The applause reminded Kaori of the time she played with Kousei.

Somewhere, in the world of the living, Arima Kousei practiced for a performance. He couldn't stop smiling after the recording he made for Jun Maeda earlier that day, so he played with a brilliance he hadn't replicated in years.

But then he stopped part way through the piece. Kousei heard the something he thought had died in the hospital. No. That couldn't have been it. He must've been hearing things. He resumed the piece, but not for long. He heard it for sure this time. It was Kaori's violin. And her voice.

 _Because these stars will shine upon you_


	3. Chapter 3

Kousei couldn't sleep that night. Kaori's violin tortured his dreams. The last time he had felt like this was the night before Kaori's surgery. He woke up and walked over to his piano. He didn't play anything though. He just looked at the music that Jun Maeda had given him after the recording session. It was music for another song in the anime. Jun accidently gave him both the piano music as well as the lyrics. Kousei was going to return it tomorrow.

Some impulse drove Kousei to take out his phone. He dialed Tsubaki's phone number, but she didn't pick up. It didn't surprise him, really. His clock said that it was one o'clock in the morning. No one reasonable is up that late.

Kousei's phone rang. That's when Kousei remembered he wasn't dealing with a reasonable person.

"You called?" Tsubaki asked.

"I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Did you call to apologize for calling?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

Kousei realized that what he was about to ask sounded insane, "A-are you f-f-free?"

"Yeah... Why?"

Kousei swallowed, "Can you come over here?"

"This late at night?"

"Yeah."

"Should I be wearing clothes?"

Kousei froze up, "What?"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Tsubaki said between bouts of laughter, "I'll be right over."

And with that, Tsubaki hung up. Kousei took deep breaths to slow his heart. The clothes thing had sent it into over time. When the doorbell rang, Kousei almost fell out of his chair. He had forgotten that Tsubaki was headed over to his place in the first place. Kousei opened the door to see a familiar face. He hadn't seen Tsubaki in a few months. Both of them and Watari had gotten together to catch up over some tea. But Kousei still felt that he had fallen out of touch with his friends from the spring of his fourteenth year.

"Hello?" Tsubaki asked, snapping Kousei out back into reality.

"Hi. You should probably come inside."

"Yeah, I'll be honest, I don't exactly trust this part of town. I'm surprised you can live here."

"I don't like it either, but it's what I can afford, and still fit the piano in." Kousei replied. He lead Tsubaki through the piles of clothes and musical scores litered about the floor, until they reached the pristine area around Kousei's piano.

"You know, this clutter is one of the reasons why I've worried about you living by yourself." Tsubaki said.

"I take care of myself just fine." Kousei replied.

"Changing topics, why'd you invite me over? Because I know that a booty call from Arima Kousei is not a normal occurrence."

"I want you to sing this." Kousei handed Tsubaki the lyrics to Jun Maeda's song. She read through it.

"You know, I'm not disappointed, but I still had not entirely thrown out the possibility that I was getting laid tonight."

"Why do keep bringing this up?"

"I'm just saying" Tsubaki said as she put her hands up in defense, "just wondering, haven't you made any friends who singers?"

"I don't really talk to the other musicians much."

"That makes so much sense."

"Can you do it?"

"Yeah, I'll do it. It wont' be great, but I'll do it."

"Thanks."

Kaori didn't know why Iwasawa called her into the practice room so early in the morning. It was so early, the sun hadn't come up yet. Kaori had wanted to get some sleep, but she couldn't say no to a request from Iwasawa.

"Evening." Kaori said as she entered the practice room. Iwasawa was writing something down at one of the desks, but she looked up to greet Kaori.

"Hey."

"So, what are we doing?"

"I just wanted you to help me with something." Iwasawa handed Kaori some sheet music, "I was working on a new song, and I thought that a violin accompaniment would work better than my guitar. Think you could help with that?"

Kaori's face lit up, "Of course!"

"Thanks."

Kaori took out her violin and set up the music on a stand. Iwasawa cleared her throat.

Kousei played the opening chords. Tsubaki started to sing.

 _There's no curtain call_

 _There's no point in life at all_

 _If each day ends and this bent heart of mine cannot heal_

 _I can't see a darn thing but it could be_

 _That the gray clouds that I have loved completely blinded me_

Kousei and Tsubaki kept singing, but they noticed a strange noise in the background. There was another voice. And a violin.

 _They're souls like me and you_

 _Who aren't aware of what they do_

 _Always laughing in the face of danger and truth_

 _Can't they see_

 _Right through their hazy glee?_

 _That nothing good comes of rushing in blindly_

Kaori and Iwasawa definitely heard a piano and another voice singing the same song. It came from near the window, but Kaori couldn't quite look because the sunrise was too bright.

 _I'll keep moving on_

 _No matter what may come my way_

 _And I'll sing, not fearing what they say_

Kousei and Tsubaki could've swore that they heard the additional music coming from Kousei's piano. Not that Kousei was making his piano sing, or sound like a violin. Tsubaki looked down at the top of the piano, and almost lost track of the song. She could see Kaori and some other girl in the piano's reflection. She looked up at Kousei, but he had clearly seen it too. Anyone else would've stopped playing, but Kousei's hands moved automatically. They didn't even stop for the tear drops falling on them.

 _Deep in my heart I know for sure_

 _That you are hurt, feel insecure_

 _And surly crying because you are only human_

Kaori finally looked up into the light from the sunrise. It wasn't as blinding as she expected. In fact, she saw Tsubaki looking down on her through the glass window. Iwasawa also noticed the phenomenon, but didn't look anywhere as overjoyed as Kaori.

 _These tears of mine are screaming out: "It's not a lie"_

 _And I cry as I want to thank you_

 _For showing me what I can be_

 _I won't let go_

 _I thank you so_

When the song finished, Kousei rushed over and looked down at the reflection of the piano.

"Kaori?" He shouted. Kaori smiled. They were both crying.

"We finally got to play together a second time. Didn't we?" Kaori replied.

"We did."

"You look much older." Kaori said with a small laugh. Tsubaki couldn't help but laugh too.

"It's been 10 years. Yeah I look older. Whereas you don't look like you've aged a day."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but who are you?" Iwasawa said. She had grown too confused about the whole situation to just stay silent.

Kaori turned around, "Oh, I'm sorry. this is Kousei and Tsubaki."

"That's not helpful."

"Kousei is the boy that..." Kaori blushed, "that I talk about sometimes."

A look of understanding came over Iwasawa, "Ooooh. I'll let you carry on then."

"Kaori?" Kousei asked, "Do you want to do one last duet?"

"I assume you don't need me for this one?" Tsubaki asked.

"Not unless there's vocals to Chopin's Ballad in G minor."

"You could've just said no."

Kousei just smiled back as he played the first few chords. Kaori joined in on the other side. The piece was magical. Kousei hadn't enjoyed the piano that much in ten years. Tsubaki and Iwasawa could not believe what they were hearing. It crescendoed and graziosoed and virtuosoed. Kaori and Kousei felt like they were flying. The notes rushed by them like wind 10,000 ft above sea level, where airplanes flew, and clouds stretched for miles and miles.

As the piece came to a close, Kaori felt herself let go of something. This moment, right here, playing a song with Kousei, was the one thing she wanted since she died. And now, she had it.

The song was punctuated by a final note drifting out of the piano, and the sound of a violin hitting the ground.

"Kaori?" Tsubaki asked, as she looked back into the piano. Kaori was gone. Only her violin remained.

"Oh crap. Damn it damn it damn it." Iwasawa cursed, "Yurippe's going to kill me."

Tsubaki started to panic, "What happened to Kaori?"

"She's in a happier place." Kousei said. He got up from his piano, still smiling and walked toward his room.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm feeling just fine Tsubaki. Just fine."

Later that day, Iwaswa gave Yurippe a magnificent account of how Angel got a hold of Kaori. How they struggled, but in the end, Kaori was obliterated. Yurippe bought it, and beat Hinata for losing another member of the SSS. Not that it was his fault. But Iwasawa wouldn't help but feel like she lost something. If anything, the violin brought a new vibe to Girls Dead Monster. And Iwasawa liked Kaori. Actually, who was she kidding. Iwasawa missed Kaori.

Kousei walked back into Jun Maeda's recording studio. Jun smiled.

"So, you're going to record the other songs?"

"Of course." Kousei replied, "I kind of play the piano for a living."

 _I won't let go_

 _I thank you so_


End file.
